“In this room, we are very familiar with these dreadful statistics that detail the shocking under-representation of women in our business. Seven to ten percent of directors, producers, writers, and cinematographers [are women] in any given year. This in spite of the fact that in the last five years, five little movies aimed at women have earned over $1.6 billion: The Help, The Iron Lady believe it or not, Bridesmaids, Mamma Mia! and The Devil Wears Prada. As you can see, their profits were significant because they cost a fraction of what the big tentpole failures cost.”

Am I the only one really amused that Meryl has starred in three of the five movies she listed? Which makes her the link between them. I’m sure she would never explicitly say that she’s the reason that these female-oriented projects succeeded, but… that’s about all that a biopic, a movie musical, and a guilty-pleasure fashion dramedy have in common. We won’t let Meryl take credit for Bridesmaids, though.

I don’t think she’s bragging. Look at the top 10 box office films of 2006(Devil Wears Prada released), they are all male led films and DWP is not that far behind with it’s all women cast. Likewise, in 2008 when Mamma Mia released, the top 10 box office films barring animation films are mostly male led with Mamma Mia being the lone ranger in the top 5. The rest of the movies that meryl mentioned make a point in questioning the production houses lack of investment made on these low budget films that do extremely well. That being said, Bridesmaids is just a typical rom com(albeit a good one), The Help a typical feel good movie that caters to audience with overactive tear ducts and Mamma Mia is a typical musical based on the songs of ABBA(a major reason for the huge success). While DWP is an interesting movie out the lot but like The Help, it’s based on bestselling novels prior to the release of the movie so that added it’s success. Iron Lady is the only exception where it’s not based on a bestselling novel, not a typical rom-com/musical and not one that will resonate with audience like The Help. So, Meryl is right in her assessment of this issue.